> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.propercardiff.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Stolen gold and the city's most expensive box - Your proper Cardiff briefing - URL: https://www.propercardiff.news/stolen-gold-and-the-citys-most-expensive-box-your-proper-cardiff-briefing/ - Published: 2026-10-27T13:00:18.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-27T18:18:58.000Z - Description: Plus liquidators claim compensation from Cardiff developer - Author: Marcus Hughes - Tags: Cardiff, News Hello! Welcome to our very first midweek newsletter. This week, we’ve followed up a museum jewellery robbery, uncovered details of a claim made against a prominent Cardiff developer, and questioned the council’s record of collecting affordable housing contributions from the builders of a new kind of luxury apartment. First though, we want to thank every one of you once again for your support. Less than a week since introducing this project, we’ve already gained more than 700 subscribers. We’re absolutely over the moon to see such enthusiasm for quality independent journalism in Cardiff and have been chomping at the bit to bring you our first pieces of proper reporting. If you haven’t already, sign up to become a paid subscriber. We have a detailed, behind-the-scenes story coming this weekend that impacts every single person in Cardiff, in one way or another. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) Right, let’s get to it. --- ## **What happened to burglars of priceless Welsh artefacts?** ![Three Middle Bronze Age gold items from Heyope, Powys // Image: Amgueddfa Cymru](https://storage.ghost.io/c/54/ff/54ff9d2b-26e3-4686-8ccb-8171bd843950/content/images/2026/10/imagefnb09.png) Early Bronze Age gold lunula from Llanllyfni, Gwynedd // Image: Amgueddfa Cymru Does anyone remember that story of a heist targeting priceless antiquities at the St Fagans National Museum of History? In the early hours of October 6 last year, a four-minute raid saw two burglars force entry to the museum's main building and snatch Bronze Age jewellery from a display case before fleeing a police helicopter. In the weeks that followed, two men from Northampton, Gavin Burnett, 43, and Darren Burnett, 50, were charged with burglary. And that’s where the Welsh media’s coverage of the story appears to have run cold. We can now reveal that although they initially denied the burglary, both men pleaded guilty in March this year in a development that flew under the media’s radar. The pair are due to be sentenced at Northampton Crown Court in December. The 13 pieces of gold, however, have yet to be found. Amgueddfa Cymru, which runs the museum, was previously cagey about the jewellery’s value. In comments to the BBC last year, it said “you can’t put a price on it” and “any value would be meaningless because you can't recreate that level of history”. But it turns out the authorities did put a value on it for the purposes of the criminal case against the Burnetts. Both men pleaded guilty to stealing gold worth £920,000, the court told us. When we asked South Wales Police about its efforts to find the items, a spokesman said: “I’m afraid they have never been recovered.” Asked if the search is still active, he replied: “The investigation remains ongoing to trace and locate the stolen items.” The missing items are four middle Bronze Age gold armlets from Llanwrthwrl, Powys; five middle Bronze Age gold items from Capel Isaf, Carmarthenshire; three middle Bronze Age gold items from Heyope, Powys; and an early Bronze Age gold lunula from Llanllyfni, Gwynedd. ![Three Middle Bronze Age gold items from Heyope, Powys // Image: Amgueddfa Cymru](https://storage.ghost.io/c/54/ff/54ff9d2b-26e3-4686-8ccb-8171bd843950/content/images/2026/10/imagesalj.png) Three Middle Bronze Age gold items from Heyope, Powys // Image: Amgueddfa Cymru Amgueddfa Cymru stressed that the monetary value of the items is “far outweighed” by its historical and cultural value. The Welsh Government sponsored body said: > “We encourage anyone who may have any information about the items' location to come forward to the police so that they can be returned to their rightful home within Wales’ national collection for everyone to access and enjoy.” Please do call 101 if you’ve been offered a treasure haul for nigh-on a million quid. Why such a long delay from the Burnetts’ guilty pleas to sentence? It likely has to do with another case against them – a set of offences that took place in Northamptonshire – which until recently had yet to be resolved. Both men have since admitted conspiring to commit a burglary and steal a vehicle in that case. We understand those offences will be dealt with alongside the St Fagans burglary at sentencing in December. --- ## **Developer claims company can’t repay debts because £3.5m didn’t arrive from the Welsh Government** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/54/ff/54ff9d2b-26e3-4686-8ccb-8171bd843950/content/images/2026/10/WhatsApp-Image-2026-10-27-at-12.04.03.jpeg) Richard Hayward Property developer Richard Hayward is the man behind several major developments, including Cardiff’s Millennium Plaza leisure complex and Penarth’s Beachcliff hotel and apartments. For years he enjoyed a cosy relationship with the media, and in 2007 was named by Business Insider as one of the most powerful businessmen in Wales. Not mentioned in such articles was his ban from directing companies for three-and-a-half years in the 1990s for wrongful trading. In 2012, he was convicted of putting tenants at risk of asbestos exposure, and in 2014 one of his firms was convicted of health and safety crimes after a labourer suffered a broken leg while working on the Beachcliff project. Last year, Conor broke the story of how Hayward presented a development opportunity to a grandfather who’d lost both arms in a work accident. The man was persuaded to invest £900,000 into the scheme and got none of the money back, leaving him on the brink of homelessness. Then there were the allegations from Hayward's former accountant, who accused him of deceiving investors in order to fund his lifestyle of supercars, boats, a private jet and an opulent home in Chelsea. He strongly denied the claims. Now the Penarth-based 75-year-old and his wife Karen Athay are at the centre of two ongoing court cases. One is an attempt by the taxman to wind up their partnership because they allegedly cannot pay their debts. The other involves one of the married couple's companies, Mintblue Properties, which collapsed in 2024 with debts including £258,798 owed to HMRC. The liquidator says Mintblue had net assets of some £2.49m in 2021 but that the following year this dropped to about £15,500\. Around this time, the couple had orchestrated several "improper" loans from the company so they could “enrich” themselves, according to the liquidator’s court claim, which demands compensation of around £550,000. "Such lending was of a scale that imperilled the finances of the company," the liquidator claims, adding: > "There was no basis for belief that the borrower could repay the monies owed within a reasonable period or at all." In court papers obtained by this newsletter, Hayward and Athay set out their defence. They say Mintblue owned land in Brynmawr which the Welsh Government needed for its A465 Heads of the Valleys road improvements. When the government opted for a compulsory purchase order, the company received £1.5m. Hayward and Athay claim they expected to get a further £3.5m in compensation from the government, based on the couple’s valuation of the land, but in the end they only got another £500,000\. They insist, though, they had a “reasonable expectation” that their pursuit of the extra millions would succeed. “Had the additional sum of £3.5m been paid, that would have materially improved the company’s financial position for the relevant years,” they claim. When approached for comment by email, Hayward said: > “I do not intend to comment on proceedings which are currently before the court.” Hayward denies he and his wife are insolvent and has vowed they will "robustly" defend themselves in both cases. We’ll continue to follow their progress. --- ## **Cardiff preparing for more frequent flooding** Back to back storms over the weekend caused flooding across the city, particularly towards Ely, Fairwater, and St Fagans. The council said it received 110 reports of flooding through its out-of-hours service, while parks staff responded to 130 incidents involving fallen trees on the highway. Janet Palfrey, 74, has lived on Wroughton Place, Ely, since the 1980s but says she and her husband have had to adapt to increasingly frequent flooding in recent years. On Sunday morning, several inches of water again covered the ground floor of her home as the river level rose to engulf much of the street. She told us: “I believe it’s climate change that’s causing this much flooding – the extreme weather. It had never flooded before we moved in.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/54/ff/54ff9d2b-26e3-4686-8ccb-8171bd843950/content/images/2026/10/WhatsApp-Image-2026-10-27-at-11.13.43.jpeg) Janet Palfrey and her husband have grown used to more frequent flooding Natural Resources Wales has installed a tree catcher upstream of Wroughton Place to stop large debris collecting beneath Ely Bridge, where blockages can increase flood risk. An access ramp was also built to help crews remove debris and maintain the river channel. Reza Ahmadian, Professor of Water and Environmental Engineering at Cardiff University, told us that Cardiff’s challenge is that it is subject to all three kinds of flooding – river flooding from its three primary rivers, obvious risk from coastal flooding, and surface water flooding. > “These are unprecedented challenges on some level. > "We need to remember that climate change is significantly affecting what you see. There are still parts of the UK that are still on a hosepipe ban while we have flooding in other parts. > “The air is warmer so it has a higher capacity to hold moisture and then that turns into rain. By 2050 we expect 10% to 32% higher rainfall – this is very significant.” The Cardiff Coastal Protection Scheme is currently under construction spanning from Tidefields Road to the Rhymney River estuary and Lamby Way. Cardiff Council also allocated an additional £250,000 to drain and gully cleansing in its 2025/26 budget. Professor Ahmadian warned that it is unlikely all flooding could be eliminated, and that the challenge is to reduce the risk as much as possible. --- ## Cardiff's impending epidemic of tiny boxes pretending to be homes ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/54/ff/54ff9d2b-26e3-4686-8ccb-8171bd843950/content/images/2026/10/WhatsApp-Image-2026-10-27-at-11.19.58.jpeg) Fitz & Knox is the first co-living development in Cardiff but there will soon be more Cardiff has an affordable housing issue. The council has calculated it needs to deliver 960 new affordable houses annually over a 15-year period. In 2024/25 just 544 affordable homes were delivered, equivalent to 57% of the annual target. At the same time, developers of a new kind of luxury apartment, known as a “co-living” complex, have negotiated multi-million pound reductions in their affordable housing contributions. In land between the magistrates' court and HMP Cardiff, 208 apartments became available this year at Fitz & Knox, the first of its kind in Cardiff and in Wales. Tenants are offered a much smaller than usual private apartment (most are between 20m² to 26m²) but also benefit from access to a collection of shared spaces, like a gym, games room, cinema, lounges, co-working spaces, and a shared kitchen. Rent and bills are all rolled into one monthly flat fee starting at £999 per month (not including council tax). None of it is classed as affordable housing. Cardiff’s planning policy seeks 20% affordable housing for residential developments like Fitz & Knox. Where affordable homes are not provided on site, the council can seek a financial contribution towards provision elsewhere, although crucially developers can argue the contribution should be reduced with a viability assessment. Cardiff Council initially calculated developer Urban Centric’s affordable housing allocation for Fitz & Knox should be 40 homes, or £3,303,042 in lieu of that. Ultimately, the council and the developer landed on a contribution of £400,000 with the planning report citing “compromises from both sides”. It's hard not to think that the developer got the better deal given they ended up with nearly an 88% discount... When the developer decided it could build five more flats by moving the location of the gym, the council calculated they should pay an extra £89,000\. Urban Centric agreed to pay £40,000. So out of a total policy requirement of £3.39m, the developer contributed just £440,000. And this isn't the only one. Another development under construction is Trader’s Yard, again by Urban Centric, south of the Cardiff Central Railway station near the new Central Quay redevelopment of the old Brains Brewery site. Planning permission was sought in two separate phases, with 182 apartments for the first phase and 168 for the second. The first phase produced a Cardiff council policy calculation of £3,292,560 affordable housing contribution – the developer eventually agreed £150,000. Just a 95% discount for the developer this time then. The second phase of Trader’s Yard has been approved subject to a Section 106 agreement. According to the planning documentation, £3,108,180 was established as the policy requirement for affordable housing. The expected return is £100,000, according to the report. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/54/ff/54ff9d2b-26e3-4686-8ccb-8171bd843950/content/images/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-27-at-11.18.13.png) Custom House Street Tower // Image: Rio Architects Ltd Another development on Custom House Street is the largest of them all. Once built, the 33-storey Custom House Street Tower, from developer Watkin Jones, will contain 400 apartments, with the majority measuring between 21 and 23m² according to planning documents. According to a June planning report, Cardiff council calculated Watkin Jones’ contribution to affordable housing at £7.3m. Watkin Jones argued that figure isn’t viable, and the current “anticipated” figure is reported at £935,000\. At the same time, planning officers noted the small size of the private rooms and even said that the communal provision was of a “lower ratio than desired” (the whole point of these developments is the shared space), and that the kitchens were concentrated on relatively few floors. A Cardiff council spokesperson said co-living developments are subject to the same policy expectation around affordable housing as other residential developments. “However, planning policy also requires the council to consider the viability of individual schemes,” a spokesperson said. > “In each of these cases, the developer submitted a viability assessment which was independently assessed on behalf of the council. Where the maximum contributions sought under council policy were found to make a scheme unviable, officers negotiated the maximum contribution that could reasonably be secured while allowing the development to proceed.” Managing Director of Urban Centric Andrew Woods said Fitz & Knox is now fully let, pointed to the building's positive Google reviews and said “residents at Fitz & Knox report exceptionally high levels of satisfaction living in our buildings”. He added: > “These schemes bring hundreds new homes to brownfield sites in the city centre, regenerating previously vacant and derelict land, at a time when Cardiff urgently needs more housing. Viability testing exists precisely so that schemes like these can proceed. Insisting on the full policy figure wouldn’t have produced more affordable homes. It would have meant no homes on these sites at all." Watkin Jones has been approached for comment. --- ## **Tipping tops tips table** Since our launch announcement we’ve been swamped with messages from new readers pointing us in the direction of stories they want to see covered. Realising we’d otherwise spend our entire launch party engaged in whispered asides with guests, we decided to place a dedicated tips box at the entrance as an airtight repository for confidential information (wrapping paper courtesy of Whitchurch Road Post Office). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/54/ff/54ff9d2b-26e3-4686-8ccb-8171bd843950/content/images/2026/10/WhatsApp-Image-2026-10-23-at-09.47.11.jpeg) News operations are nothing without their sources By far the biggest concern that emerged was litter and flytipping – and with fair cause. Data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows that reports of fly-tipping in the city increased from 17,669 incidents in 2023/24 to 24,289 incidents in 2024/25, a leap of about 37% in just one year. The matter was raised in a Lib Dem motion at the full council meeting on Thursday last week with Pentwyn and Llanedeyrn Lib Dem councillor Joe Carter saying the issue was "getting out of control". Cabinet member for waste Ed Stubbs said the increase was down to the council’s push to encourage more people to report the issue. He said it is his ambition to “get those reports even higher than they are”. The council resolved to bring back dedicated community sweepers, install additional litter bins where needed, increase the frequency of litter bin emptying, cover the cost of insurance for local litter picking groups, remove fly-tipping more quickly, and strengthen enforcement action. Cllr Stubbs also said he’d be reintroducing pop-up recycling centres, and the council plans to write to the Welsh Government to support raising the price of fixed penalty notices for waste offences. *Where’s Cardiff’s worst spot for persistent fly-tipping? Tell us in the comments.* --- ## **Cardiff’s Tour de France route** With Great Britain set to host the Grand Départ for just the fifth time in 2027, the exact route it will take through Wales became clear last week. The final stage of the men’s race will travel from Welshpool to Cardiff on Sunday, July 4, travelling a distance of 223km passing through Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf. There will be eight categorised climbs in total, six of which are packed into the final 80 kilometres. Riders will make their way into Cardiff from Caerphilly down Thornhill Road, past Thornhill Crematorium, and onto Caerphilly Road. At the Gabalfa Roundabout, the race will join Western Avenue toward Llandaff, joining Cathedral Road, Cowbridge Road East and Castle Street before finishing just short of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/54/ff/54ff9d2b-26e3-4686-8ccb-8171bd843950/content/images/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-27-at-11.27.07.png) Find the full interactive map [here](https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1bm8hmf9lla9XZ16xJARSNJT7M69TZDM&femb=1&ll=51.67169477861704%2C-3.2711374819445345&z=10&ref=propercardiff.news) On Tuesday, the Welsh Government announced £4.5m worth of cycling investment in Wales. That includes awards to Cardiff Council for new E-bike charging stations, bike lockers, bike maintenance stations, and wayfinding signs. Council leader Chris Weaver said: “Being part of this global event will place Cardiff firmly in the international spotlight once again, helping to boost the local economy, support jobs and showcase everything our city has to offer.” --- ## **Our Halloween recommendations** **🏰** [**Cardiff Castle**](https://www.cardiffcastle.com/events/?ref=propercardiff.news)is hosting a range of events this week, including underground cinema screenings of Hocus Pocus, The Descent, Little Shop of Horrors and The Nightmare before Christmas. There are also Halloween Creepy Crawlies sessions with the Dinosaur, Wildlife & Education Centre through Wednesday and Thursday to keep children busy over the half term. **🕷️** There’s still a few tickets left for [**Llanrumney Hall’s House of Horrors 2026**](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/llanrumney-halls-house-of-horrors-2026-tickets-2002415146607?aff=ebdssbcategorybrowse&ref=propercardiff.news)**.** Included in the £9.38 booking fee is a tour of the 500-year-old mansion, plus a children’s disco from 4.30pm to 9pm and an animal petting zoo in the Coach House. **♟️** [**Chess Chess Y’All** ](https://www.instagram.com/chess%5Fchess%5Fyall/?ref=propercardiff.news)are meeting for their regular street chess session on the Hayes on October 31\. We hear costumes are encouraged if you happen to have a fit that matches your favourite piece. 🪉For fans of movie scores, the Mystery Ensemble is performing the music of Tim Burton this week at [**Llandaff Cathedral**](https://llandaffcathedral.churchsuite.com/events/xryqnqzh?ref=propercardiff.news). Expect music from Alice and Wonderland, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and others. 📲 Let us know other events/happenings in the city you want us to include. --- That’s all for now. Please keep your messages and suggestions for stories coming in. You can write to [newsdesk@propercardiff.news](mailto: newsdesk@propercardiff.news) or WhatsApp +4477867 958550. Want more of this? Subscribe to support our journalism. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) We’ll see you this weekend. Thanks again everyone for their support. The Proper Cardiff News team --- *Proper Cardiff News is part of the The Cymru News Network.* *© 2026 The Cymru News Network ltd. 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